Read the full stored bill text
A2196
ASSEMBLY, No. 2196
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires AG to collect and report law enforcement
detention data; creates Racial and Identity Profiling Elimination Advisory
Council.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
requiring the collection and reporting of certain law
enforcement data, creating the Racial and Identity Profiling Elimination
Advisory Council, and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a.�������� As used in
this section:
���� �Stop� means any detention of
an individual by a law enforcement officer based on no more than an articulable
suspicion of wrongdoing for the purpose of investigation on the spot.
���� �Law enforcement officer�
means the same as provided in section 3 of P.L.2021, c.327 (C.2C:12-14).
���� b. The Attorney General, in
consultation with the Division of State Police, county prosecutors offices, and
the Administrative Office of the Courts shall establish a program to collect,
record, and collate data regarding all stops by law enforcement officers in
this State. The data shall not include the name, address, social security
number or other unique identifying data of the person stopped.� The data shall
include:
���� (1)�� the time, date, and
location of the stop;
���� (2)�� the reason for the stop;
���� (3)�� the result of the stop,
including, no action, warning, citation, property seizure, or arrest;
���� (4)�� if a warning or citation
was issued, the warning provided or violation cited;
���� (5)�� the offense charged
pursuant to an arrest;
���� (6)�� the perceived race or
ethnicity, gender, and approximate age of the person stopped, which shall be
based on the observation and perception of the law enforcement officer making
the stop, and the information shall not be requested from the individual stopped.�
In the case of a motor vehicle stop, this paragraph only shall apply to the
driver, unless any actions specified under paragraph (7) of this subsection
apply in relation to a passenger, in which case the characteristics specified
in this paragraph also shall be reported for that individual;
���� (7)�� action taken by the law
enforcement officer during the stop, including, but not limited to, whether the
law enforcement officer:
���� (a)�� requested consent to
search the person, and if consent was provided;
���� (b)�� searched the person or
any property and, if so, the basis for the search and any evidence discovered;
���� (c)�� seized any property and
the basis for the seizure;.
���� (8)�� for each law enforcement
agency, the number of citizen complaints alleging racial or identity profiling
based on national origin, religion, gender identity or expression, sex, mental
or physical disability, or any other class protected under the Law Against
Discrimination, and the disposition of the claim in the following categories:
���� (a)�� �sustained� means an
investigation disclosed sufficient evidence of the truth of the allegation by a
preponderance of evidence;
���� (b)�� �exonerated� means the
investigation clearly establishes that actions of law enforcement that formed
the basis of the complaint were not in violation of law or policy; or
���� (c)�� �unfounded� means the
investigation established the allegation to be untrue.
���� c.���� The Attorney General
shall annually prepare and publish on its Internet website a summary of the
data collected, recorded, and collated pursuant to this section.
���� d.��� The Attorney General may
utilize the services of any public or private entity or entities for the
performance of activities in furtherance of the program established under this
section, and may enter into agreements for those purposes as the Attorney General
deems advisable.
���� 2.��� a.� There is established
within the Department of Law and Public Safety the Racial and Identity
Profiling Elimination Advisory Council.� The purpose of the council is to
provide the department with best practices and recommendations concerning the
elimination of racial and identity profiling in policing in the form of an
annual report, based on an analysis of the data produced pursuant to section 1
of P.L.��� , c.�� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).�
Upon submission to the department, the report shall be published on the
Internet website of the department.�
���� b.��� The membership of the
council shall be composed of 12 members as follows:
���� (1)�� the Attorney General, or
a designee;
���� (2)�� the Superintendent of
the Division of State Police, or a designee;
���� (3)�� a member of the County
Prosecutors Association of New Jersey;
���� (4)�� a member of the Office
of the Public Defender;
���� (5)�� a member of the New
Jersey State Chiefs of Police;
���� (6)�� two representatives of
community organizations who represent New Jersey based social justice and civil
rights organizations specializing in criminal justice reform, to be appointed
by the Governor;
���� (7)�� a university professor
with demonstrated expertise in criminal justice and who is experienced in the
study of evidence based methods of reducing racial and identity profiling, to
be appointed by the Governor;
���� (8)�� two members of the
public with experience in addressing and reducing racial and identity bias
toward groups or individuals, one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor
upon recommendation of the President of the Senate and one of whom shall be
appointed by the Governor upon recommendation of the Minority Leader of the
Senate;
���� (9)�� two members of the
public with experience in addressing and reducing racial and identity bias
toward groups or individuals, one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor
upon recommendation the Speaker of the General Assembly and one of whom shall
be appointed by the Governor upon recommendation of the Minority Leader of the
General Assembly.
���� c.���� The council shall
convene as soon as is practicable but no later than one year after the
effective date of P.L.��� , c.���� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature
as this bill) and shall have at least three public meetings per year, with at
least one public meeting in each part of the State, North, Central and South.
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the eighteenth month next following the date of
enactment except that the Office of the Attorney General, Division of State
Police, and county prosecutors offices may take any anticipatory administrative
action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.�
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires the
collection and reporting of all law enforcement detentions and establishes a
council to make recommendations to eliminate racial and identity profiling in
policing.
���� This bill would require the
Attorney General to direct law enforcement agencies to collect data on all
detentions and to report the aggregated, de-identified data on the Internet
website of the Department of Law and Public Safety.
���� Currently, the Department of
Law and Public Safety collects data on motor vehicle stops.� Under the bill,
law enforcement agencies would have to report data on all stops, which the bill
defines as any detention of an individual by a law enforcement officer based on
no more than an articulable suspicion of wrongdoing for the purpose of
investigation on the spot.
���� The bill also establishes the
Racial and Identity Profiling Elimination Advisory Council in the Department of
Law and Public Safety.� The council will be charged with analyzing the data
published by the Attorney General�s office and making recommendations to
advance the progress of eliminating identity profiling in policing.� The
council shall be composed of 12 members including: the Attorney General, or a
designee; the Superintendent of the Division of State Police, or a designee; a
member of the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey; a member of the
Office of the Public Defender; two appointees of the Governor who are
representatives of New Jersey based community justice organizations focused on
civil rights; four members of the public with experience in reducing racial and
identity bias who will be appointees of the Governor upon recommendation of the
Senate President, Senate Minority Leader, Speaker of the General Assembly, and
Minority Leader of the General Assembly; and a university professor with
demonstrated expertise in criminal justice and experienced in the study of
evidence based methods of reducing racial and identity profiling, who would be
appointed by the Governor.